Mutated Tao

Dak dak dak~

The sound of horse hooves rang out non-stop as the horses trodded along rhythmically.

The wheels of the horse carriage trailed the hoof prints before their marks were replaced by Gao Zhijian’s massive footprints.

A group of people could be seen following a carriage along a small path.

All of them were deep in thought, with some of them taking glances at their leader, Li Huowang.

They had been sure that Li Huowang was dead. Even if his body hadn’t attracted any flies, after checking many times, they had been certain that he was dead.

However, now he was back just like that. It was too bizarre.

But that was not all. Not only did he rise out of his grave just like that, he was shouting about the world being the crazy one before passing out.

Everything had happened so fast that they still hadn’t managed to react to it all.

Were it not for the fact that Li Huowang still looked the same as ever, they would’ve thought that something was possessing his body.

But they were glad that he returned to normal after he woke up.

Whenever they asked him about what happened, the only answer he gave them was ‘Everything is over.’

Since he just said that it was over, everyone stopped asking. They were just glad that he was still alive.

“Let’s rest here and have dinner,” said Li Huowang.

Immediately, the carriage came to a stop and everyone started doing their job. Some went and fetched water, some others collected firewood, while a few of them went and collected wild vegetables to eat. After having traveled together for so long, they worked together quite well.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang didn’t do anything. He just sat there and used the remaining sunlight offered by dusk as he studied the Fiery Scripture.

He could recognize the characters written in Yingzi’s notes—after Dan Yangzi had died, Li Huowang’s literacy had returned. He could now read perfectly.

Since he was literate once more, he was certain that this time around, Dan Yangzi was well and truly dead.

The characters used in the Fiery Scripture had been translated by Yingzi and Li Huowang gradually learned how to use them by comparing them with her notes.

But it was not that simple.

One crucial element that he needed to use the Fiery Scripture was a heart of compassion.

Li Huowang had never expected that he would need to focus on one particular feeling to be able to use it.

As he chanted in a voice filled with uncertainty, the white wax on the book gradually melted, trying its best to form a shape.

However, Li Huowang's practice was soon cut short.

“Senior Li, hehe~ Senior Li? Are you busy?” Puppy approached Li Huowang with a smile while carrying some firewood. He looked around and after making sure that Bai Lingmiao had yet to return, he whispered, “Senior Li, to show my sincerity, I burned two female paper dolls on your grave when senior Bai was not around.”

“Hmm?” Li Huowang raised his eyebrow.

Puppy checked his surroundings once more and whispered. “Senior Li, did you receive the two women on the other side?”

Li Huowang was speechless. “But… I didn’t die?”

“I know that you are alive right now, but weren’t you dead before? If you really managed to receive two women on the other side, then I have thought of burning some female paper dolls for myself when I die.”

“But since I never died, I didn’t receive them,” said Li Huowang with a straight face.

“But you were not breathing! We even made sure to bury you only after three days just to confirm you were indeed dead. Did you not follow Ox-head and Horse-face and report yourself in Hell? Wait, what did the place look like?” Puppy questions came in like a tide.

Being annoyed, and wanting to end the conversation quickly, Li Huowang just said, “Yes, yes, yes. I did receive them.”

“Hooray! That is good news!” Puppy was overjoyed. He slapped his hands and danced around before thinking about his ‘future’.

“What did you receive?”

Hearing the voice of a woman behind him, Puppy was frightened. He turned around and saw that Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman had come back from picking wild vegetables. Flustered, he quickly changed the topic. “Nothing, I was just talking with Senior Li.”

Tonight’s dinner consisted of gnocchi. It was a meal that was simple to make and eat.

Mix flour with cold water, knead it, and then squeeze out the irregularly-sized orb-shaped pieces of dough into boiling water.

Once the clumps of gnocchi floated to the surface, Bai Lingmiao mixed in a large scoop of lard into the pot, followed by the wild vegetables.

Soon, the wild vegetable soup and the gnocchi started boiling.

Taking in the fragrant aroma, everyone swallowed their saliva. Their journey was long and now, they needed to replenish their stamina.

“Haha, to think that there would come a time when I, Cao Cao, would be eating white flour every day,” exclaimed Puppy happily as he took his bowl.

The first bowl out from the steaming pot was naturally Li Huowang’s.

As Bai Lingmiao gave him the first bowl of gnocchi and saw him accept it with his own two hands, she smiled happily; Senior Li hadn’t lied to her. His arm really had grown back!

“Why are you staring at me? Are you not going to eat?” asked Li Huowang.

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao nodded and took her bowl. Then, she sat quietly beside Li Huowang and started eating.

They didn’t have that many people, but with both Gao Zhijian and Bai Lingmiao eating a large amount of food, the large pot of gnocchi was finished in no time.

As they washed their utensils, the night descended upon them. Since there was nothing to do at night, they just lit up a bonfire and went to bed.

Gao Zhijian was the one on watch tonight.

At the same time, with Bun’s keen sense of smell, Li Huowang had nothing to be worried about. And so, he washed up beside the river and soon fell asleep inside the horse carriage.

Just as he had closed his eyes, he felt something soft entering his blanket. Li Huowang just kept his eyes closed and hugged her as he went to sleep.

However, after some time, Li Huowang felt her hugging him tighter and tighter, to the point that she almost buried her entire body into his. At the same time, she started sobbing, her tears making his shirt wet.

“Why are you crying?” Li Huowang gently caressed Bai Lingmiao’s hair.

“My mother used to teach me that a good wife must be hardworking, good at maintaining the household, be kind, good at communication, and never bother with her man’s business. But I’m very scared… scared that you will just be gone just like that day, and that this time around, you may never wake up…”

Within the silent horse carriage, Li Huowang the sincere emotions contained within her sobs.

Her sobbing did not stop as she continued, “Senior Li, why do you always try to endure everything on your own? Why can’t you tell me? Am I nothing to you in your heart?”

“That’s because I don’t want to hurt you. Since everything is already over, then let me tell you everything,” said Li Huowang as he kissed the top of her head and sighed. Then, he started telling her about the things that had happened, one thing at a time.

He told her everything, from the Zephyr Temple up to the Ox Tail Gate.

And then… he stopped.

“And then… what happened? Did Dan Yangzi die? How did you come back?” Sensing that this was an important event, Bai Lingmiao started pressing for details.

But Li Huowang was visibly struggling, veins bulging on his face as he grabbed the sides of his head. “Those… those… things! I… I can’t describe them! I can’t describe them!!!”

Chacha and Char's Thoughts

The artist also did some renditions of the ox-tail gate. Here's version 1 Credits to 格子的乱七八糟 on douyin

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